Crude oil prices up $1.25 per barrel in New York

Oil prices rose on Friday after a week of declines and a day after new inventories figures showed that stockpiles of oil and oil products were up across the board last week. But analysts pointed out that so far this year, the price of oil has gone up only four times out of 12 trading session, and that three of those instances have come on a Friday, warning that the day’s advances were not necessarily the beginning of a trend.

In London, Brent crude added 66 cents to trade at $52.41 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude traded at $51.73 per barrel at midday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a gain of $1.25. Gasoline futures were up nearly 4 cents to $1.3945 per gallon, while heating oil added just over 4 cents to $1.5110 per gallon. Natural gas was 53.7 cents higher, to $6.867 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Many analysts had their suspicions that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was not adhering strictly to its promised production cuts confirmed when the cartel released figures Friday showing that its output in December was 490,000 barrels per day above the goal set in October. The December output was only 111,000 barrels per day lower than it had been in November. At least one analysts said that it was likely that the price of oil would have to drop to $45 per barrel before Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, would change its stated position that no further production cuts are necessary.

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